Bloodstone: For Renewed Friendships
On the tenth day of the second month in the third turn, Auree runs into Penny in the Caucus Barracks. The two girls know each other from the Smithhall, and the relationship established there is quickly picked up again.
Penny does not spend much time in the dormitory these days, preferring to do her work in the craft hall and staying late -- and early -- in the work rooms there. But even she must come back to sleep and find clothing, and it's this latter task that has her engaged at the moment, rummaging through the press at the foot of her cot and resituating clothes retrieved from the laundry. It's mid-afternoon, one of the days Penny does not have class but when many of her peers do, so the dorms themselves are fairly sparsely occupied.
It appears that at least one other young, female smith does not have class, and Auree steps inside the dorms, her skirts hitched up in one hand and her feet making a sort of squelching sound. She moves towards her cot, which is a few beds over from Penny's. She lowers herself onto the mattress so that wet shoes and sodden socks may be gingerly removed. Toes, red from the cold, are wiggled experimentally before she looks up to notice and identify the room's only other occupant. "Penny," she offers quietly. "Hello."
"Hey," is Penny's reply, perhaps a little distracted, but in tones so warm she could hardly be accused of being dismissive. Her eyes are still on her laundry for a few moments as she puts a few more blouses into the press. It isn't until she looks up with a smile for the person who greeted her that she stops, blinks, stares. After a few seconds of stunned silence, her mouth opens to speak, but doesn't get much past "Wh--" before she halts again. Eventually, she just manages, "You... hi." Surprised, but she summons a smile nonetheless, if a rather confused one.
"Hi," Auree repeats again. She lets the soggy socks fall and bends for her own press, to pull out a fresh pair. "The lake is hard to identify. When there's snow."
Penny is still thrown, and it shows -- being confused is not a state that pleases this particular smith, and she's slow to come up with any sort of civil greeting. "But... are you..." With an effort, she stops the half-formed phrases and takes a moment to watch the younger woman. "Auree. Wow. What are you doing here?" This last is with a smile, as Penny moves over toward where the sodden girl is changing her socks.
The other smith sighs softly as her socks are pulled on and her feet are no longer quite so cold or exposed. "I'm in Caucus," she explains to Penny with a small smile. "Do you have any advice?"
In Caucus. Penny blinks, but at least has the presence of mind not to show any open skepticism. "I didn't know you were coming," she says. "I would've thought my father would've... no matter. It -is- good to see someone from home," she comments, smiling now. "I must have missed you the last few times I visited." She lowers herself to sit on the trunk at the foot of the bed opposite Auree's. "Advice... I ought to have some, shouldn't I? By now people around here are at least exposed to the idea of female smiths," she points out with a wry smile, "so at least you won't have people eyeing your knot with one brow raised."
"I did not realize I would be attending either," Auree agrees with another small but easy smile. "Apparently Master Gersham made the arrangements. Here I am." She blinks, hazel eyes observing Penny as she continues to talk, and a pale hand lifts to touch her own shoulder in the spot where a knot ought to sit. "Oh. Do you think I ought to wear it, then?" She rarely did, at the hall. One of the advantages of being a girl at the smithhall was that everybody already knew who you were. This never particularly seemed to bother Auree.
Penny's smile turns a bit wry. "Wear it," she advises drily. "Otherwise you'll be walking past the kitchen and someone will shove a tray into your hands, expecting you to deliver it." She pauses, perhaps replaying her words in her mind, and then says with a lift of her shoulder, "I exaggerate, but not by much. If nothing else, you ought to wear it for your fellow students' benefit. They won't know who you are, after all." She leans back, resting her palms along the edge of the trunk. "When did you get in?"
All of this is considered, most likely. Auree continues to study Penny and after her words, gives a single nod. Understanding and perhaps agreement. "I arrived on the fourth day of month one. It was very late, so perhaps I should say day five, instead. The trip went well, and I would like to go flying when the sun was out some time, to see the land from above."
Penny nods slowly. "I'm sure you'll be able to find a rider willing, once you settle in. Though at this particular point in time, all you'll see up there is a big blanket of white, with the occasional mountain of white looming out of it." Polite chatter, idle and cheerful, while Penny studies Auree in return. "I have to admit, if I found a rider to take my flying I'd tell him to fly me immediately to somewhere warm."
"Yes," Auree agrees, "but you are from Boll. There are colors in the snow, but you must know how to look for them. I will do as you suggest. Ask. When I'm settled." Auree permits herself another slow blink. "Do you enjoy it here?"
The question, perhaps abrupt but probably not unexpected, nevertheless causes Penny to hesitate. "Yes. And no. I hated it for a long while. Too cold, for one thing. And to be around so many dragons was unsettling. And," she leans forward, with a conspiratorial quirk of her head, "many of the people just set my teeth on edge." Leaning back again, she falls silent for a while; but there is a hint that she is not quite done, by the thoughtful look on her face. A bit of a smile, just a little one, and she lifts a shoulder. "There are compensations, though. Things that make it not so bad. I couldn't say that I hate it here anymore, despite all the uproar over the past few Turns. Not at all."
"There has been quite an uproar, hasn't there," Auree considers as she glances down at her damp shoes, perhaps trying to decide whether to put them on again or no. "I don't mind dragons, or most people, or the snow. That will make it easier. I do worry," her lips spread and lift in another small smile, "about the bathing situation."
Penny laughs, shaking her head a little. "Truth be told, it still makes me a little uncomfortable. It helps though if you think about the fact that no one is really paying attention to you, they're all too busy paying attention to themselves." She pauses, with a quirk of her lips. "Though that's not to say people never look. I tend to go in the late evenings, when I'm working over in the crafthall anyway, and there's not too many people about then." She pauses, and grimaces. "That way also my hair can dry before I walk back through the cold."
"Another good idea. I have been going late at night, and mostly that serves. Only, when others -are- there at that hour..." Auree looks briefly away, pale cheeks warming to a faint rosy hue.
Penny raises an eyebrow, but it's a sympathetic look she directs at the girl. "Oh dear. Who was it?" She crosses her legs at the knee, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her legs, the very picture of interested concern.
"I did not think to ask for names," Auree offers solemnly, although a twinkling in those hazel eyes suggests some other emotion. "The man did have a birthmark just here..." her hand reaches around so her fingers can press at the small of her back, "and the woman had dark hair. Brown, perhaps. It was wet." For Auree, that was more words strung together than is her usual inclination, and she allows silence to return to balance out her verbosity. Finally, she concludes the retelling of her adventure with, "Weyrs are very different."
"Alas, I don't have a record of every birthmark in the Weyr," Penny mourns. "And unfortunately there are an enormous number of women with brown hair." Her smile is perhaps not quite as friendly as it might be, there, but it softens a bit with that last comment. "They are," she agrees. "But not always bad. For me, at least, it has been..." She pauses, lips lightly pursed as she searches for the word. With a smile, she settles on, "An education." She's quiet then, but regarding the woman with a thoughtful look. Eventually, "Auree, if you don't mind my asking... why are you here, anyway? You've never shown any..." There is no delicate way to say it. "I didn't think you were interested in politics and society."
"As I have come for an education, I expect it will serve," Auree considers and, with her words, offers approval for the weyr the the Caucus within it. The rest of Penny's questions leave the other smith sitting still, her expression going blank as her thoughts turn inward. "There are very few of us," Auree says. "We are not well liked in the hall," but this is stated as calmly as if she was discussing the weather. "When Master Gersham steps down, someone else will have to work to keep our place in the craft secure. So, here I am."
Lips remain pursed, Penny's eyes thoughtful as she regards Auree. "It isn't a matter of liking," she murmurs. "But respect is something different." Unspoken, perhaps, is whatever concept of working toward respect happens to reside in Penny's albeit biased mind. "And this is what you want? To be in charge when Master Gersham retires?"
"Whatever it is, it does make things challenging," says Auree amicably. Penny's last question earns her another momentary study and the simplest of answers. "Yes."
"Challenging," agrees Penny, but perhaps there is a bit of dismissal in the word. She glances toward the doorway, and toward the rest of her things on her bed -- the beginnings of an excuse to leave, surely, though she doesn't excuse herself yet. "Well, then it's good he's chosen to send you here," Penny says, her smile bright. "Tell me, you've been here for long enough now -- you've met with the Headmaster, right?"
"No," is Auree's blithe disagreement as she leans back, resting her weight on her hands. "I am told that I should. I would like to take his class. I am sure that I'll meet him at some point in the near future."
"His class is one of my favorites," notes Penny, agreement in her voice. "Though I think most students find it also one of the most intimidating." She straightens a little, tilting her head to one side and smiling. "I suppose that would be my advice to you, then. The Headmaster is a good man to have on your side; it's hard to say what does or does not charm him, but you ought to do your best to make him into an ally. He is--" But she stops herself, with a little shrug. "Well, you'll meet him eventually. I would suggest sooner, rather than later."
"Thank you," the redheaded smith replies. "I shall." She stands, socked feet carrying her over to her press so that she can open it and fish about for something. When she moves away, Auree holds the knot that announces her rank, and she sets about settling it onto her shoulder.
Penny's smile is not quite so bright when Auree moves away, a more thoughtful almost-frown slipping into place. She clears it with a little shake of her head, and gets to her feet. "Well, I'd better get going or I'll miss my last class. Let me know if you need anything, Auree, while you're adjusting to things around here. I won't mind at all." And she actually sounds as though she means it, too, though she doesn't wait for a reply before making her way to the door and leaving.
"Thank you. That's very--" Penny is gone, though, and Auree realizes it as she looks up from arranging her knot. She blinks several times and then picks up her shoes and carries them to the fire, having decided to dry them before wearing them once more.
Penny does not spend much time in the dormitory these days, preferring to do her work in the craft hall and staying late -- and early -- in the work rooms there. But even she must come back to sleep and find clothing, and it's this latter task that has her engaged at the moment, rummaging through the press at the foot of her cot and resituating clothes retrieved from the laundry. It's mid-afternoon, one of the days Penny does not have class but when many of her peers do, so the dorms themselves are fairly sparsely occupied.
It appears that at least one other young, female smith does not have class, and Auree steps inside the dorms, her skirts hitched up in one hand and her feet making a sort of squelching sound. She moves towards her cot, which is a few beds over from Penny's. She lowers herself onto the mattress so that wet shoes and sodden socks may be gingerly removed. Toes, red from the cold, are wiggled experimentally before she looks up to notice and identify the room's only other occupant. "Penny," she offers quietly. "Hello."
"Hey," is Penny's reply, perhaps a little distracted, but in tones so warm she could hardly be accused of being dismissive. Her eyes are still on her laundry for a few moments as she puts a few more blouses into the press. It isn't until she looks up with a smile for the person who greeted her that she stops, blinks, stares. After a few seconds of stunned silence, her mouth opens to speak, but doesn't get much past "Wh--" before she halts again. Eventually, she just manages, "You... hi." Surprised, but she summons a smile nonetheless, if a rather confused one.
"Hi," Auree repeats again. She lets the soggy socks fall and bends for her own press, to pull out a fresh pair. "The lake is hard to identify. When there's snow."
Penny is still thrown, and it shows -- being confused is not a state that pleases this particular smith, and she's slow to come up with any sort of civil greeting. "But... are you..." With an effort, she stops the half-formed phrases and takes a moment to watch the younger woman. "Auree. Wow. What are you doing here?" This last is with a smile, as Penny moves over toward where the sodden girl is changing her socks.
The other smith sighs softly as her socks are pulled on and her feet are no longer quite so cold or exposed. "I'm in Caucus," she explains to Penny with a small smile. "Do you have any advice?"
In Caucus. Penny blinks, but at least has the presence of mind not to show any open skepticism. "I didn't know you were coming," she says. "I would've thought my father would've... no matter. It -is- good to see someone from home," she comments, smiling now. "I must have missed you the last few times I visited." She lowers herself to sit on the trunk at the foot of the bed opposite Auree's. "Advice... I ought to have some, shouldn't I? By now people around here are at least exposed to the idea of female smiths," she points out with a wry smile, "so at least you won't have people eyeing your knot with one brow raised."
"I did not realize I would be attending either," Auree agrees with another small but easy smile. "Apparently Master Gersham made the arrangements. Here I am." She blinks, hazel eyes observing Penny as she continues to talk, and a pale hand lifts to touch her own shoulder in the spot where a knot ought to sit. "Oh. Do you think I ought to wear it, then?" She rarely did, at the hall. One of the advantages of being a girl at the smithhall was that everybody already knew who you were. This never particularly seemed to bother Auree.
Penny's smile turns a bit wry. "Wear it," she advises drily. "Otherwise you'll be walking past the kitchen and someone will shove a tray into your hands, expecting you to deliver it." She pauses, perhaps replaying her words in her mind, and then says with a lift of her shoulder, "I exaggerate, but not by much. If nothing else, you ought to wear it for your fellow students' benefit. They won't know who you are, after all." She leans back, resting her palms along the edge of the trunk. "When did you get in?"
All of this is considered, most likely. Auree continues to study Penny and after her words, gives a single nod. Understanding and perhaps agreement. "I arrived on the fourth day of month one. It was very late, so perhaps I should say day five, instead. The trip went well, and I would like to go flying when the sun was out some time, to see the land from above."
Penny nods slowly. "I'm sure you'll be able to find a rider willing, once you settle in. Though at this particular point in time, all you'll see up there is a big blanket of white, with the occasional mountain of white looming out of it." Polite chatter, idle and cheerful, while Penny studies Auree in return. "I have to admit, if I found a rider to take my flying I'd tell him to fly me immediately to somewhere warm."
"Yes," Auree agrees, "but you are from Boll. There are colors in the snow, but you must know how to look for them. I will do as you suggest. Ask. When I'm settled." Auree permits herself another slow blink. "Do you enjoy it here?"
The question, perhaps abrupt but probably not unexpected, nevertheless causes Penny to hesitate. "Yes. And no. I hated it for a long while. Too cold, for one thing. And to be around so many dragons was unsettling. And," she leans forward, with a conspiratorial quirk of her head, "many of the people just set my teeth on edge." Leaning back again, she falls silent for a while; but there is a hint that she is not quite done, by the thoughtful look on her face. A bit of a smile, just a little one, and she lifts a shoulder. "There are compensations, though. Things that make it not so bad. I couldn't say that I hate it here anymore, despite all the uproar over the past few Turns. Not at all."
"There has been quite an uproar, hasn't there," Auree considers as she glances down at her damp shoes, perhaps trying to decide whether to put them on again or no. "I don't mind dragons, or most people, or the snow. That will make it easier. I do worry," her lips spread and lift in another small smile, "about the bathing situation."
Penny laughs, shaking her head a little. "Truth be told, it still makes me a little uncomfortable. It helps though if you think about the fact that no one is really paying attention to you, they're all too busy paying attention to themselves." She pauses, with a quirk of her lips. "Though that's not to say people never look. I tend to go in the late evenings, when I'm working over in the crafthall anyway, and there's not too many people about then." She pauses, and grimaces. "That way also my hair can dry before I walk back through the cold."
"Another good idea. I have been going late at night, and mostly that serves. Only, when others -are- there at that hour..." Auree looks briefly away, pale cheeks warming to a faint rosy hue.
Penny raises an eyebrow, but it's a sympathetic look she directs at the girl. "Oh dear. Who was it?" She crosses her legs at the knee, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her legs, the very picture of interested concern.
"I did not think to ask for names," Auree offers solemnly, although a twinkling in those hazel eyes suggests some other emotion. "The man did have a birthmark just here..." her hand reaches around so her fingers can press at the small of her back, "and the woman had dark hair. Brown, perhaps. It was wet." For Auree, that was more words strung together than is her usual inclination, and she allows silence to return to balance out her verbosity. Finally, she concludes the retelling of her adventure with, "Weyrs are very different."
"Alas, I don't have a record of every birthmark in the Weyr," Penny mourns. "And unfortunately there are an enormous number of women with brown hair." Her smile is perhaps not quite as friendly as it might be, there, but it softens a bit with that last comment. "They are," she agrees. "But not always bad. For me, at least, it has been..." She pauses, lips lightly pursed as she searches for the word. With a smile, she settles on, "An education." She's quiet then, but regarding the woman with a thoughtful look. Eventually, "Auree, if you don't mind my asking... why are you here, anyway? You've never shown any..." There is no delicate way to say it. "I didn't think you were interested in politics and society."
"As I have come for an education, I expect it will serve," Auree considers and, with her words, offers approval for the weyr the the Caucus within it. The rest of Penny's questions leave the other smith sitting still, her expression going blank as her thoughts turn inward. "There are very few of us," Auree says. "We are not well liked in the hall," but this is stated as calmly as if she was discussing the weather. "When Master Gersham steps down, someone else will have to work to keep our place in the craft secure. So, here I am."
Lips remain pursed, Penny's eyes thoughtful as she regards Auree. "It isn't a matter of liking," she murmurs. "But respect is something different." Unspoken, perhaps, is whatever concept of working toward respect happens to reside in Penny's albeit biased mind. "And this is what you want? To be in charge when Master Gersham retires?"
"Whatever it is, it does make things challenging," says Auree amicably. Penny's last question earns her another momentary study and the simplest of answers. "Yes."
"Challenging," agrees Penny, but perhaps there is a bit of dismissal in the word. She glances toward the doorway, and toward the rest of her things on her bed -- the beginnings of an excuse to leave, surely, though she doesn't excuse herself yet. "Well, then it's good he's chosen to send you here," Penny says, her smile bright. "Tell me, you've been here for long enough now -- you've met with the Headmaster, right?"
"No," is Auree's blithe disagreement as she leans back, resting her weight on her hands. "I am told that I should. I would like to take his class. I am sure that I'll meet him at some point in the near future."
"His class is one of my favorites," notes Penny, agreement in her voice. "Though I think most students find it also one of the most intimidating." She straightens a little, tilting her head to one side and smiling. "I suppose that would be my advice to you, then. The Headmaster is a good man to have on your side; it's hard to say what does or does not charm him, but you ought to do your best to make him into an ally. He is--" But she stops herself, with a little shrug. "Well, you'll meet him eventually. I would suggest sooner, rather than later."
"Thank you," the redheaded smith replies. "I shall." She stands, socked feet carrying her over to her press so that she can open it and fish about for something. When she moves away, Auree holds the knot that announces her rank, and she sets about settling it onto her shoulder.
Penny's smile is not quite so bright when Auree moves away, a more thoughtful almost-frown slipping into place. She clears it with a little shake of her head, and gets to her feet. "Well, I'd better get going or I'll miss my last class. Let me know if you need anything, Auree, while you're adjusting to things around here. I won't mind at all." And she actually sounds as though she means it, too, though she doesn't wait for a reply before making her way to the door and leaving.
"Thank you. That's very--" Penny is gone, though, and Auree realizes it as she looks up from arranging her knot. She blinks several times and then picks up her shoes and carries them to the fire, having decided to dry them before wearing them once more.